Cinerarium (Grave Altar)

Inscription on the cinerarium:TO THE GODS AND SHADES, TO PUBLIUS CIARTIUS LASUS.
PUBLIUS CIARTUS ALEXANDER, TO HIS DEAREST BROTHER.

Many sarcophagi and cinerary urns decorate the Gardner Museum. In this well-preserved example, two rams’ heads anchor a garland. Below the inscription Cupid approaches the sleeping Psyche, a subject which suggests that dead souls could be reawakened through love. This cinerarium was found near S. Paolo fuori le mura in Rome. Other grave markers found nearby indicate that the deceased was from a family of freed Greek slaves from Asia Minor.